Everyone knows the history. The Green Bay Packers haven’t selected a receiver in the first round of the NFL Draft since 2002.
About six months after the Packers selected Javon Walker, Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka was born.
There’s a sucker born every minute. Mine was about 27,375,000 minutes ago. Maybe I’ve been suckered by the combination of the Packers’ need, which is as obvious as a dropped third-down pass, and the team’s interest in the top receiver prospects.
The Packers need a receiver. Everyone knows it. General manager Brian Gutekunst hosted Egbuka and fellow first-round receiver prospects Tetairoa McMillan and Matthew Golden on top-30 visits. It was an acknowledgement that the Packers have to be better, that their $220 million quarterback can’t do it alone.
Green Bay was nowhere near good enough on offense to compete with the NFL’s elite teams last season, and that was with Christian Watson. With Watson recovering from a torn ACL, how are the Packers going to be good enough to compete against the quality defenses in the NFC North and the rest of the NFL’s power teams without making a big splash at receiver?
This is Titletown. It’s not Village of Wild Card or One-And-Done-Ville. Gutekunst said as much at the end of the season.
“I think it’s time that we started competing for championships,” he said.
With the returning group of receivers, the Packers are barely a blip on the championship map. Really, how are they going to compete for a Super Bowl with Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks and some Day 2 draft pick? Sure, the strong play of Doubs, Reed and Wicks down the stretch in 2023 shows what they can become in 2025.
But would you bet the season on it? Would you bet that Doubs, who hasn’t reached 700 yards for a season in his career, is going to hit a new gear? That Reed, who disappeared down the stretch last season, is ready to be a 17-game dominator? That Wicks’ second season was nothing more than a sophomore slump?
As free agency wound down and attention began to shift to the draft, I talked to a pro personnel director about the state of the Packers. While it was perfectly obvious the veteran group of free-agent receivers was terrible, he would have aggressively gone after Davante Adams for one reason: to give Jordan Love the help he needs.
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“I think Jordan is a good quarterback, but I don’t think he’s ever going to be great,” he said. “The great quarterbacks can beat your team with his players, and then he can turn around and beat his team with your players. I don’t think that’s ever going to be Jordan, and that’s OK. You’ve just got to be aware of that and put more around him than you might have with Aaron (Rodgers).”
Another high-ranking scout said of Love, “I think his pro career matches his college play. Sometimes he’s great, sometimes he’s awful, sometimes he’s just OK.”
Yes, Love was banged up last season. Who knows just how much that Week 1 knee injury impacted his play. Still, the scout said, calling Love a young quarterback is nothing more than excusing away some of the erratic, inconsistent play. He’s been in the league for five seasons. He had started more than 30 games when the offense fell apart during last year’s season-ending losing streak.
While there’s room to grow, the scout thought Love “is who he is” at this point.
So, what does that mean for that pursuit of a championship?
“I do think you can build a really good team around him but I’m not sure he’ll ever carry you to the Super Bowl,” he said.
That’s where Egbuka comes in.
Is Egbuka ever going to be a so-called No. 1 receiver? Maybe, maybe not, but he’s darned good. From the moment he arrives in Green Bay, he’ll be ready to be a difference-maker. He’ll start in his first NFL game. He’ll lead the team in receiving in his first season. He’ll be a go-to player in his first playoff game.
“He’s a pro. Plain and simple, he’s a pro,” a scout said this week.
Physically, he’s a pro because of a polished skill-set. Mentally, he’s a pro because of his professionalism.
“Whenever I do watch myself, I’m my own hardest critic,” Egbuka said at the Scouting Combine. “A reason I excelled at Ohio State was because [receivers coach Brian] Hartline and I shared a similar mindset.
“We’re perfectionists to the nth degree. Every time I watch film, I never tell myself ‘good job’ in my head. I’m always critiquing myself, whether it’s run blocking, route running, my splits before the play, it’s all game for me. It’s all an art, and I love the art of being a receiver.”
Egbuka doesn’t have the overwhelming size of Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan, who two scouts didn’t think would fall to Green Bay’s spot. He doesn’t have the explosive speed of Texas’ Matthew Golden, who could be available at No. 23.
However, at 6-foot 7/8 and with 4.48 speed, Egbuka’s not exactly short and slow. If the 40 time doesn’t blow you away, his 10-yard time of 1.50 seconds was beaten only by Golden in the entire receiver class. His Relative Athletic Score was 9.72.
“He’s more than fast enough,” Hartline told Fox Sports’ Eric Williams. “The athletic ability, in my opinion, should be a check the box. He’s big enough and strong enough. Hands? Check. Quickness? Check. Routes? Check.”
He added: “There’s nothing Emeka can’t really get done when asked to on game day.”
Egbuka left Ohio State ranked No. 1 all-time in receptions and second in yards. Yes, he played alongside Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Marvin Harrison, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Jeremiah Smith, so he never had to be the man, which is what would be asked of him if he’s Green Bay’s pick. At the same time, because he played alongside those first-round picks, he had to work for every opportunity or risk being shoved to the back burner.
“I didn’t want to go to a place where I wasn’t going to be challenged by my peers,” Egbuka said. “I wanted to go somewhere I could grow at an exponential rate because they were growing, as well.”
Yes, the Packers have other needs. If Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon or Michigan cornerback Will Johnson fall to No. 23, they’d be hard to overlook.
But the Packers can get by with what they’ve got on the defensive line, and there are deep draft classes at tackle and edge to supplement the group. At cornerback, the Packers didn’t get bounced from the playoffs because of Jaire Alexander’s absence.
Receiver is different. They weren’t good enough at receiver last year, and there’s no guarantee there will be an impact receiver available at Green Bay’s second-round sweet spot.
So, this is the year. Egbuka has the skills. He has the mentality. He is battle-tested.
For a team that is built to win today, Egbuka’s polished skill-set and professional mindset should make him Green Bay’s first-round pick.
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